It sounds like the set-up to a movie: A woman buys a house, notices a boarded-up nook, and discovers a locked safe inside. But that's exactly what happened to a TikTok user, whose video series on the adventure has gone viral.
User @fireplacesafe (whose user info simply reads "I guess finding a safe hidden in your house is the key to the tiktok algorithm?") has posted five videos detailing the discovery, which have attracted roughly 100 million views in total.
The first video, titled "First day in my new house and I FOUND A SAFE IN THE FIREPLACE!" begins with footage showing a section of a wall being taken apart, next to the fireplace of a living room.
"OK, what did you say is in here?" the woman holding the camera says.
"It looks like a safe!" replies the man examining the alcove.
The man, whom the user later revealed to be her father, then uses a crowbar to pull pieces of wood from the wall. @/fireplacesafe and a woman (later revealed to be her mother) joke about whether there might be "a million dollars in there."
The safe looks like it's been firmly secured amongst the brickwork of the house. The user's father brings out what they describe as a "spy camera," which is small enough to be threaded through the holes of the safe. The resulting footage is unclear, but the user's father announces "there's something to the left," while the onlookers discuss what they might find inside. A voice can be heard saying "there could be gold in there." The TikToker's father then begins using his tools to attempt to remove the door, by dismantling the hinges—but to no avail.
A final caption reads: "Come back tomorrow when my friends come to help open it!"
The next series of videos provide more context on how the user came to find the safe. The user had recently purchased a house that had been built in the 1950s. She had spotted the boarded-up alcove when looking at the house, but was told that the previous owners had never opened it
"One reason I spent so much time researching this, is that old fireproof safes can have asbestos in them," the user says in one video. "I wanted to make sure that this safe was... safe. Yeah, I know: Dumb joke."
In subsequent videos, the user's friends speculate on what might be in the safe, before one of them niftily manages to pick the safe's lock.
"I attached a little chunk here just to be able to get enough of a grip to get to turn the thing. And if you listen, we're getting really close here," he says at one point.
Using the spy cam, he continues to tinker with the lock mechanism. Suddenly, the handle turns, eliciting shrieks of excitement from the onlookers.
Inside the safe, the user discovers a time capsule of coins, trinkets, and a newspaper that's over 150 years old. Not all of the items were uplifting. In the video, along with a pack of WWII commemorative coins and an old copy of a publication called Maine Farmer, the user pulls out what looks like a deck of cards.
"This seems cursed," she says, before pulling the cards out.
She reads the first one before recoiling, announcing that they are "fortune-telling playing cards. And at least one is racist..." The deck had been produced by United States Playing Card Company, according to the video.
However, in the haul were some fascinating pieces of history. In the following video, the group sits around laughing at some of the classifieds from the paper, including one that reads "Stray Cow" and another titled "German leeches."
While @fireplacesafe ultimately ended up having a fun time with the discovery in her new house, a majority of others tend to find moving homes stressful. In fact, making a move might be the most stressful experience of your life, according to one recent survey. Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of North American Vans, the survey asked 1,000 Americans about their recent moving experiences.
Some 64 percent of respondents said their most recent move was among the most stressful things they've ever experienced. When it came to ranking their most stressful experience, the top answer was moving house (45 percent), followed closely by "going through a break-up or divorce" (44 percent), and "getting married" (33 percent).
In the case of @fireplacesafe, however, other TikTok users seemed to agree that the whole affair was thoroughly exciting.
"everything thing there is worth alot...SERIOUSLY those coins ..an those are real gems...an playing with them is crazy an that newspaper historical," wrote @jerrybaker614.
User @Natasha_violetta_🌻effusively added: "BOYYYYYY THATS HISTORY"
On a similar note, @miss slime959 commented "I'm glad you had fun finding these items! please see if a museum will want them!"
Not all the comments were so positive. Some users questioned the authenticity of the find, accusing @fireplacesafe of setting the whole thing up. Others were apparently put off by the enthusiasm and laughter of those in the video.
User @Rubn, for example, wrote "Damn the disrespect."
Another user, @thats.so.kaya, commented "Bro you handled this really disrespectfully"
Newsweek reached out to @fireplacesafe.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
